ELA 9 Unit Test (88%)

When the subject of a sentence performs the action in the sentence, the verb in the sentence is in the

In Silent Spring Rachel Carson makes up a fictional story about what life in the United States will be like if we don't save the environment, whereas in "Save the Redwoods" John Muir

A ____________ is a stated idea or opinion that not everyone believes is true.

Nico is revising the final sentence of a body paragraph of an argumentative essay. He should be sure that the sentence

Which verbs would be appropriate to use in an essay that is written in the past tense? Check all that apply.

Read the paragraph. Volunteering is a good way to gain skills and work experience. In a recent study, seventy-three percent of employers said they'd hire someone who'd volunteered. Among employees who had volunteered, ninety-four percent said that it had benefited at work. Students looking to improve their resumes should consider volunteering. What is the best transition to add at the beginning of the third sentence?

Read the poem. School looms large, and I feel small I pause until the door swings wide I hoist my pack, step inside Adjust my cuffs, smooth my hair And wonder what I'm doing here. Which lines rhyme?

Which phrase from the "The Bells" best conveys the mood of lines 70-94?

Read the sentence. Unfazed by the morning frenzy before school, dad gave us our lunches before we left. Which best describes the sentence?

Read the sentence from the first paragraph of Silent Spring. Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of the fall mornings. In this sentence, Carson mostly uses a __________ tone.

Read the sentence. At the end of the day, the dusk was filled by the coyote's haunting call. Which revision puts the sentence in the active voice while maintaining the meaning?

Read the sentence. The forgery ________ so exquisite that it hung in the museum for the past two decades without discovery. Which verb or verb phrase is in the correct tense to complete the sentence?

What kind of evidence should a writer use to support a claim or counterclaim? Check all that apply.

Read the poem. Throat is dry; weather's hot. I buy a can and pop the top. I lift the can to trembling lips, And find relief With one cool sip. How many stanzas does the poem contain?

Read Deepak's rebuttal to the counterclaim in his essay. Critics are correct in saying that the weather moves in cycles. However, that doesn't mean that the current drought isn't real. By the end of October 2012, sixty percent of the US was experiencing a drought. Granted, that was a four percent decrease from the drought totals in September. Which sentence in the rebuttal provides evidence that defends against the counterclaim?

Which line from "Safari Day in Kenya" contains an example of assonance?

Read the excerpt from "Safari Day in Kenya." Hyenas slink before us, mottled bodies, eyes black ice Zebras bright as painted ponies, the babes brown-striped, not black! Which statement best describes how the author uses sound devices to create mood?

Read the excerpt from "Safari Day in Kenya." Kimani stops at a watering hole, where hippos grunt in mud-baths, Baboons play in a nearby tree, like children out at camp. The underlined portion of the stanza is an example of which sound device?

Which best describes the structure of the poem "Safari Day in Kenya"?

How does the author use logos to support the argument made in "Save the Coral Reefs"?

What is the author's purpose in "Save the Coral Reefs"? Check all that apply.

Read the excerpt from "Save the Coral Reefs." A study completed in 2004 found that seventy percent of our coral reefs are already destroyed or currently under threat of destruction. It also concluded that much of the wreckage to reefs has been caused by humans. The resiliency of the reefs is on our side, though. More can be done now to help the coral reefs bounce back—even flourish. What is meaning of the word "resiliency" in this context?

Which statement best summarizes "Save the Coral Reefs"?

Read the excerpt from "GM Food: Fuel for Our Future." Also, crops can be genetically engineered to be more nutritious. Golden rice, for example, has been altered to have more vitamin A than spinach. This is important because according to Scientific American, "Vitamin A deficiency causes more than one million deaths annually and half a million cases of irreversible blindness in the developing world." Golden rice alone could help save millions of lives and prevent blindness. Overall, our growing world desperately needs GM food to survive. The food these crops produce costs less and is safer and more nutritious than anything you could get from a traditional crop. As you can see, the benefits of GM food outweigh the far-fetched, unsubstantiated risks that critics have put forth. Which phrases from the excerpt support the author's argument that genetically modified food is safe? Check all that apply.

Which is the best comparison of the authors' purpose in these two essays about genetically modified food?